1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to seats for bicycle and, more particularly, is concerned with a bicycle seat having a flexible suspension platform for supporting the buttocks of a bicyclist.
2. Description of the Prior Art
For many years it had been accepted practice in the bicycle industry to employ a bicycle saddle having a configuration needed to be straddled by a bicyclist. A significant problem arises with respect to a typical conventional bicycle saddle is that it supports most of the weight of the bicyclist unnaturally through the crotch region of the bicyclist rather than naturally through the buttocks region of the bicyclist where the weight should be supported. And this has been a long-standing problem. It was recognized at least as early as the late 1800s in U.S. Pat. No. 415,253 to Pattisson which issued more than a century ago on Nov. 19, 1889. The problem causes such high degree of discomfort that many persons are discouraged from riding bicycles at all after being unable to find a bicycle saddle that solves the problem. Merely providing more padding of the bicycle saddle does not alleviate the discomfort.
Many different bicycle saddle designs have been proposed in the prior art some of which are directed to the above-cited problem while others are addressed to various other perceived drawbacks. Representative of these bicycle saddle designs are the ones disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 507,413 to Broadbent, U.S. Pat. No. 623,505 to Avery, U.S. Pat. No. 1,512,145 to Starck, U.S. Pat. No. 2,395,346 to Schwinn, U.S. Pat. No. 4,099,769 to Jacobs, U.S. Pat. No. 4,367,896 to Nieddu, British Pat. No. 1,568 (1883) to Brooks, British Pat. Nos. 10,899 (1884) and 1,568 (1885) to Lamplugh and British Pat. No. 914,345 to Nieddu. However, none of these designs are believed to provide a satisfactory solution to the above-mentioned problem.
More recently, a different approach to the aforementioned problem has been proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,597,202 to Andersen. The Andersen patent discloses a bicycle seat having a single piece of triangular-shaped fabric formed with an elongated rear base end sleeve and a front apex end pocket and a triangular-shaped frame member provided by a single rod bent to have an upward curved rear base portion extending through the elongated rear base end sleeve of the fabric and a front straight apex portion mounted to an attachment member which is inserted into the front apex end pocket of the fabric and adjustable to drawn the fabric into a taut condition. The upward curved rear base portion of the frame member is elevated above the plane of its front straight apex portion such that the single piece of fabric drawn taut across the frame member is held in the configuration of a hammock seat having a generally planar supporting surface and a wide weight-supporting distal or rear end in contrast to the configuration provided by prior art bicycle saddles.
While the approach proposed by the above-cited Andersen patent may be a step in the right direction, it is still not seen as offering a satisfactory solution to the above-mentioned problem in that its triangular-shaped frame member formed by a single bent rod might tend to introduce a potential new set of problems in terms of the reliability and structural integrity of the frame member. Consequently, a need is still perceived to exist for a bicycle seat design that will overcome the above-mentioned problem with prior art bicycle saddles without introducing a new set of problems.